Old Hampton dig reveals historic town's lost landscape

— When archaeologists began exploring the site of the future Old Point Bank headquarters 10 weeks ago, they feared that any clues to this historic town's lost colonial landscape might have been destroyed by later construction.

Instead they're scrambling to investigate the most crucial in a swarm of finds before they run out of time and money.

More than 800 features have been unearthed since the downtown dig began in June, including an early 18th-century structure, a recently discovered cellar and three wells that date to the period when Hampton ranked among Colonial America's busiest port towns.

Also found lying beneath an irregular lattice of brick footings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are the remains of a post-built structure and an artifact-studded refuse pit that could date back to the days before the town street grid was laid out in 1691.

"We're really getting a wide sweep of Hampton's past through the exploration of this lost historical landscape," said Hampton History Museum curator Mike Cobb, describing an array of features that ranges from the sprawling 1900s footprint of the Hotel Langley to the brick steps that lead down into an early 1700s cellar.

"And the reason you have so much depth is because Hampton has been here for 400 years."

Conducted by the James River Institute for Archaeology, the project has been slowed by numerous obstacles over the past few weeks, including a long string of 100-degree days and a thunderous rainstorm that left the entire site buried under 2 feet of water.

But the biggest challenge has been the sheer number and density of the features that have been exposed as the archaeologists have probed their way down from the surface.

Bogged down by the time-consuming process of mapping these finds, the archaeologists have investigated only a couple of features at length, including the brick foundation and cellar of an early 18th-century structure once owned by Hampton's famous seafaring Barron family. But only recently could they return to tease out the cellar steps and what is believed to be a wine storage bin.

Not until recently, moreover, could they return to an overlooked patch of stained soil and pick out the outline of another early 18th-century cellar from a jumble of other features. Adding to the importance of this find was the discovery of a telltale cowry shell that could indicate an African presence.

"In a place as old as Hampton, we knew there was a likelihood of finding early 18th-century features. But the density and the degree of preservation has been staggering," project archaeologist Hank D. Lutton said.

"It's left us a little overwhelmed. But it's also very exciting. We'll be taking a closer look at this new cellar if I have to do it myself."

With so much evidence to explore, the archaeologists have shifted into a triage mode, ranking each feature in importance so they can focus their remaining two weeks in the wisest manner.

Even with a recent extension from Old Point Bank, which originally allotted $100,000 for the project, there won't be enough time to do more than "sort out the big picture," principal archaeologist Nick Luccketti said.

Volunteers from the Archaeological Society of Virginia will help. But already Luccketti has started working with Old Point, its architects and engineers in an effort to preserve "virtually all the significant archaeological features" under the footprint of the new 4-story building.

"We've given them a map so they'll know what to avoid with their pilings — and the whole site will be covered with a textile barrier laid down over clean fill," he said. "So it will be well-preserved for the future."

Archaeologists exploring the site of the future Old Point Bank headquarters have uncovered evidence of two early wells, a cellar and an outbuilding that appear to be linked to the previously unearthed brick foundation of a mid-1700s dwelling.

In downtown Hampton, Hank D. Lutton, project archaeologist shows off one of the corners with uncovered bricks of the dig. Archaeologists exploring the future site of the Old Point Bank building on Queen Street in downtown Hampton have uncovered the remains of an 18th-century foundation that could...

Archaeologists probing the site of the future Old Point Bank headquarters in downtown Hampton have unearthed a 1700s foundation that may be linked to one of the 400-year-old city's most famous families.